Aquaculture is becoming increasingly important to resolve the current and projected global shortfalls in aquatic foods and seafood availability. As the shift in dependence from fisheries' harvests to artificially propagated aquatic species continues, optimization of aquaculture methods is increasingly necessary to maximize food production and minimize ecological impact, thereby achieving long-term environmental sustainability of our seafood supplies.
Sterilization (induced infertility) of farmed fish and other egg-producing aquatic animals enhances their growth rate by increasing the conversion of food energy to muscle growth, instead of gonadal development. In addition, if escaped from aquaculture operations to the environment, reproductively sterile farmed fish and other egg-producing aquatic animals, including domesticated, non-native or genetically modified species, will not be able to reproduce or inter-breed with wild population. This will assist biological containment and prevent genetic contamination of wild populations and/or the establishment in the wild of domestic, non-native or genetically modified farmed fish and other egg-producing aquatic animals.
Additionally, reproductive sterilization of fish and other egg-producing aquatic animals prevents unauthorized breeding and sale of patented, or otherwise protected, genetically selected or modified fish and other egg-producing aquatic animals.
Furthermore, aquatic animals, such as zebrafish, have provided models for evaluation of drugs or bioactive agents of interest. However, one of the major challenges in the use of eggs and embryos of these aquatic animals is the low permeability of the chorion or egg envelope which prevents such agents from traversing the chorion and reaching the embryo.
Therefore, methods are needed to enhance the permeability of the chorion of the eggs of aquatic animals and allow candidate drugs, bioactive agents and large molecules to traverse the chorion and to reach the embryo. In addition, methods are needed for reproductive sterilization of egg-producing aquatic animals.